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When Yoo Joonghyuk first opened his eyes after activating his newly acquired stigma, he expected to find himself in a vaguely familiar train car with gaps in his memory and a hole in his heart he wouldn’t know was where his sponsor would’ve been.
He'd braced himself for it, spending all of his last moments before regressing to instill in his own consciousness at least that there was something he wanted to achieve- someone he wanted to meet, something to keep him going through whatever suffering the Demon King of Salvation said he had to go through for countless regressions more.
When he woke up, however, he instead found himself tied to a chair, with a face that mirrored his own (though decades younger, he notes, as he had been back when the scenarios first began) glowering down at him.
His hackles rose, arms involuntarily straining against his restraints as he took in the situation. He looked down to find himself clad in his signature black coat, pristine as it always was with it’s self cleaning function (the first physical gift he’d ever received from the Demon King of Salvation, albeit he himself was the one who cleared the scenario that awarded it.) but his Heaven Shaking Sword wasn’t on him, as expected.
A quick scan of the room found it on top of a steel table on the other side of the room. It wouldn’t been too much of a problem trying to get there with his [Red Phoenix Shunpo], but that depended on the skill level of the person before him. He turned back to his captor with wary eyes, contemplating whether or not to us Eye of the Sage, but then something else caught his vision making him pause.
There was a window behind the man, the main source of light in the near barren room, and it displayed a scenery that was not unfamiliar. Seoul, half-destroyed as it had been over 30 years ago when the scenarios was still in full effect, but more than that was the towering metal fixtures scattered around the place. The… Industrial Complex…?
This was a subject of his confusion, for he knew for a fact the only reason he himself had been able to visit- and subsequently overtake and then transport the Industrial Complex to Seoul, was only due to the help of the Demon King of Salvation.
And that was when he realized that he still clearly remembers the Demon King of Salvation and everything his sponsor had ever done for him.
“You.” the word brought his attention back to the man before him, brows furrowed in a way Yoo Joonghyuk was quite familiar with, seeing it quite often on his own face. “You are the 0th turn?” the man asked in the same gruff voice that was Yoo Joonghyuk’s own.
He frowned himself, mirroring the other’s expression-- exactly, he finally notices, seeing his own decades younger appearance in the man’s dark eyes.
( Constellation “Demon King of Salvation” tuts at Incarnation “Yoo Joonghuk”’s ever present frown. The star’s indirect messages had annoyed him, more often than not. Constellation “Demon King of Salvation” says it wont score you any points with the ladies . he’d relay, as if Yoo Joonghyuk ever cared about that. )
0th turn, he thinks, contemplating what it meant. “Is this ‘Regression’?” he asks instead, not bothering to hide the confusion in his tone.
He realized he probably should’ve been more cautious of the possibility that this man was an enemy, but the improbability of him being tied up in a chair in a place that was once his home, by a man wearing his face and his coat and his countenance but with no sword trained on his throat, after activating a skill that was meant to bring him somewhere far more hostile, left him instead with a curious sense of calm.
He feels no threat here.
The man regards him for a moment before letting our a puff of air. “No.” he answers simply.
“Then is this a regression?” he asks again, eyes never leaving the other’s dark gaze. Perhaps… “The 1,864th one?” he continues, trying to repress the slight hope in his chest
Yoo Joonghyuk-- the other Yoo Joonghyuk, he knows, feels clearly that this man can really be no other but himself, in a timeline different from his own perhaps, but still undeniably himself-- ‘s eyes narrowed, doubt and suspicion flashing through them at the question. “...yes.” he replies.
And Yoo Joonghyuk lets his heart skip a bit as warmth filled his chest.
An arduous path. His sponsor had told him. 1,864 regressions without any assurance of ever seeing the conclusion. And no memories at all of his very first life.
My dear sponsor, you favor me too much it seems. Almost unbidden, a small chuckle escapes his throat and he regards the man before him again, this time with shining eyes.
Suddenly the man is on guard, a blade finding its way to his throat this time, unbidden. The Black Heavenly Demon Sword, he recognizes by the hilt. The one the Demon King of Salvation urged him to get (just in case anything happens to your current one. You never know.)
“What do you know?” the other him growls in demand. “What do you remember?!”
What do you remember that I don’t he hears in the space of the other’s breath and his smile grows wider but tinged with bitterness at this poor soul.
Seeing him like this, himself with a face littered with scars and eyes so fathomlessly dark, anger and mistrust and a deep deep tiredness evident in them, Yoo Joonghyuk feels the slightest bit of pity.
Pity for this poor tortured soul who had been saddled with uncountable hardships for years unknown thanks to his choice. Their choice, really, for in the end they are the same person.
His choice. “Is he here?” his eyes shone, once again ignoring the other’s interrogation.
He's here. He's here. Yoo Joonghyuk just knows it, can feel it in his bones.
The other him grits his teeth in annoyance. He understands, of course. He’d be annoyed too if such behavior was directed to himself --or he would’ve, decades ago before time and his wife and his comrades and his battalion of children weathered him down into the nostalgic old man he now is at heart.
“Is who here?”
Vaguely he feels the sword nick at the skin of his throat and realizes there was no sharp sting of pain that should’ve been, nor the expected warm trickle of blood that should’ve followed and immediately he understands how he came to be here.
(Constellation “Demon King of Salvation” says the ‘Avatar’ skill may useful, but Incarnation “Yoo Joonghyuk” doesn’t need to have it right now. Or ever.)
He huffs out a laugh. “You don’t remember.” he stated the fact it is. “You hold a sword to my throat but you’re not pulling through because you fear you wont remember even if you dispel me.” he hums, his grin fading to a slight smile.
The blade at his throat twitched, in time with that of a dark brow. “Why did you regress?” the other asks, voice more uncertain than accusing, more anxious than angry. “And who is your sponsor?”
He noticed perhaps. The softness that underlies Yoo Joonghyuk’s words, the lack of hostility in his own bearing, the peace settled within his own black eyes.
(You will lose the majority of your memories from this turn.) his sponsor had informed him during those final moments, making it absolutely clear that he wouldn’t recall any of the memories he’d made, not the help he’d received for the scenarios nor the peaceful, happy life the constellation had sacrificed a lot of probability for him to obtain.
Yoo Joonghyuk regards him for a long silent moment and again he feels pity, imagining the despair and anguish that must’ve constantly accompanied him in his long long life, unknowing of everything. However “Even if I tell you now, I don’t think you’d be able to understand.” he relays his thoughts, and he was unsurprised at the scathing glare he received in return.
Still, slowly, the sword retreats from his skin, returning to it’s scabbard on the other’s waist, resignation filling the other’s posture. “Then tell me this at least.” the other him continued with wavering eyes. “Have you…reached the ‘end’ of the scenarios?”
Yoo Joonghyuk simply smiled at him, and as if on some sort of cue the sound of a door bursts open from somewhere behind him, effectively cutting off their stilted conversation as a familiar loud voice rang in the room. “Master! Ahjussi is calling everyone to the conference room, says he wants to go over the next scenar…io…”
Yoo Joonghyuk cranes his neck around to see Lee Jihye standing half-inside the door, young and sprightly as she has always been, and his smile widened just a little bit. “Jihye-yah.” he greets.
Her jaw dropped, a very obvious shiver running up her spine. “M-Master… what…”
Suddenly his hands are free, and a rough hand is grabbing his collar. “Later.” the other Yoo Joonghyuk growls and herds them all out of the room.
~_~_~_~_~
“What the fu--”
“Language.”
There are people he doesn’t recognize, is the first thing Yoo Joonghyuk notices as soon as he entered a conference room in his Industrial Complex-- and it was his industrial complex, he can at least be sure about that.
He was only partially surprised to find that this Yoo Joonghyuk had found Jung Heewon, who was now cuddled up next to Lee Hyunsung in this regression turn, knowing full well that it was only thanks to the Demon King of Salvation’s incessant instructions that he even became aware of her existence.
The woman beside her, with long brown hair and tranquil eyes, though, he has no clue about. Same with the boy who sat beside Shin Yoosung that regarded him with deep suspicion.
Vaguely he wonders where and what happened to Kim Namwoon.
Who was most eye-catching to him, however, was the man that stood behind them. His face wasn’t one to stand out from the crowd but Yoo Joonghyuk found it hard to look away, suddenly.
Short dark hair contrasting pale skin, dark eyes that seemed to pierce right through his very soul. He swallowed involuntarily, heart beating rather loudly in his chest, warmth filling his lungs.
“You’re not the Secretive Plotter.” a small-ish woman with a mole under her eye suddenly appeared in front of him, obscuring his view and impeding the connection. And he forced himself to look at her. She regarded him with narrowed eyes, scanning down his whole body with a searching gaze.
Yoo Joonghyuk blinked at the modifier. It wasn’t one he’s ever heard before. “No.”
“He’s an avatar.” the Yoo Joonghyuk of this turn finally relayed, glancing at him once before his gaze crossed the room. “Of the 0th turn.” He explained.
Yoo Joonghyuk followed his gaze and found them locked on to the same man from earlier who’d caught his attention just with his very presence. Dark eyes now wide open in amazement, mouth slightly parted in what could only be surprise.
And then he spoke and suddenly Yoo Joonghyuk felt the whole world fade away.
[Yoo Joonghyuk.]
“The Yoo Joonghyuk of the 0th turn?!”
[You dumb bastard]
“Wait why do you have an avatar of the 0th turn?! When did you even get that skill??”
The voice was slightly panicked, pitched high with disbelief and amazement, but Yoo Joonghyuk could recognize it anywhere and his legs were already moving before he can begin to process.
Instantly he found himself in front of that presence, and this close he could feel the connection that had been so vague before coil within his heart more vividly.
With a jolt, he noticed the other man felt it too, his brows furrowing as he stared disbelievingly at Yoo Joonghyuk’s face, eyes searching in a way not dissimilar from the woman from earlier, but altogether more intense.
“Y…You, how are you…”
“What’s your name?” Yoo Joonghyuk asks, demands even. Eyes never once leaving that pretty face. And it is pretty, now that I’m looking closely. Long lashes fanning across his full cheeks, lips thin but full, long slender neck still pure and unmarked--
He paused just short of shaking his head of his thoughts, and a huff escaped his lips, a chuckle bubbling up his throat as he continued to look his sponsor in the eye.
I should be too old for this. He tries to berate himself. He was even a married man, thanks to this very constellation’s consistent pestering; and a father of a battalion of adopted children, although that life had ended quite a few years ago already due to his old age.
But still… this was his Demon King of Salvation. The constant presence beside him near his whole life. His sponsor.
Reluctantly, the man finally replied. “My name is Kim Dokja.”
“Kim Dokja…” he spoke, letting the name roll off his tongue and savoring the feel of finally knowing, of being able to say his sponsor’s true name, taking in the man’s… everything. Everything. From his lithe frame enveloped in an infinite dimension space coat that matched his own ( [Constellation “Demon King of Salvation” asks, what about white? White is a good color.] “No.” ) to the way he held himself up, confidence in his stance and determination in his shoulders. And he simply basked in the warmth suddenly filling his whole being at the mere proximity they are now in.
His smile grew wider. “Kim Dokja.” he says again, softly, reverently, hand reaching out to cup the man’s soft cheek. “Kim Dokja.”
“Y…Yoo Joonghyuk…ssi?” the other’s voice trembled, low and uncertain and Yoo Joonghyuk couldn’t help but find it quite cute.
He contemplated, for a fraction of a second, if he should just lean in and take those soft looking lips, and reveled in the sheer knowledge that he could, actually, now with his sponsor a warm and solid presence, right there before him, as opposed to just words printed on a semi-transparent screen.
And then he was airborne, sailing violently through the air the blink of an eye and it was only thanks to his now younger body and his years-honed reflexes than he managed to catch himself before he crashed into the row of desks on the other side of the room.
He glared hard at the perpetrator, fire spilling out of him for the first time since he’d opened his eyes in this world-line at who dared try to toss him aside only to find… himself, with a possessive hand on his dear confused sponsor’s shoulder glaring with the same intensity right back at him.
He blinked, taking in the sight.
[1 8 6 4]
Vaugely he wonders if he should feel jealous, ridiculous as it is to feel jealous of himself, the forgotten being that he is in that man’s subconscious.
But in the end he couldn’t help it. So he laughed.
[Private Attribute “A Life Lived to It’s Fullest” wishes to Evolve]
[Story: Companions of Life and Death is Continuing on with it’s Story]
Perhaps he was mistaken. Maybe his other self understands it all already.